


Arc 1 - The X-Men

by Nightlit



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Original, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-03-01 02:54:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2756906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightlit/pseuds/Nightlit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My take on the X-Men. Basically a rewrite from the ground up. Largely inspired from X-Men Evolution and Ultimate X-Men, but there are bits and pieces of my favorite things from every canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1.1 Red Vision

**Five Years Ago**

Its the same every day: Ten steps from the door to the stairs, five stairs then turn left, repeat five times to get to the third floor, turn left again, walk past the first door, sneak past the second door, walk past the third door and then enter his room. For Scott Summers, its like clockwork, ever since he lost his ability to see, or at least, see safely. Once in his room, he throws his cane against the wall, no longer worried about it, and tends to sit down and read. Something he has been studying long and hard to be able to do again, braille being a difficult language to learn, especially for a person who started learning it at age eleven. He has always been a persistent person, and now two years later he is already reading at his grade level again, though predictably slower than before. Today, however, he just gets to the left at the top of the stairs when he runs into someone larger than him, and falls backwards, thankfully not down the stairs he just came up.

“Scott!? Are you ok?” Dylan's voice fills his ears and a strong hand pulls him off the ground. Dylan is three years older than Scott at sixteen and one of the oldest of the kids living there. He is also one of the two people who treats him with any sort of respect.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Scott says, already knowing how Dylan will respond.

“I'm the one who should be sorry. Its not like you can see where you're going.” Scott smiles at him and is about to leave when Dylan continues. “Oh, so are you looking forward to your meeting this afternoon?”

Scott has no idea what Dylan is talking about. “Meeting?” He asks.

“Yeah, apparently someone is looking to adopt you.” A female voice pops in. Darcy, the other person on Scott's good list. “According to Fran they asked for you in specific.”

Needless to say, Scott is surprised. Not only is Scott beyond the expected age of adoption, but he is also blind. Well... effectively blind, and being blind is far preferable to the alternative. The last thing is, how did anyone ask for him in specific? He hadn't had any visitors in over a year, and who else but a visitor would have any idea who he was? His family was dead and his previous foster parents were... well, no one talks about what happened to them. But it is very clear that they wouldn't be back to get him, nor would they give anyone a positive opinion of him, quite the opposite he should think. “You're not just pulling my leg right?” Scott responds, irked at the thought.

Dylan's large but gentle hand falls to his shoulder, “Would we do that to you?”

Scott sighs, “No... Anyone else here? Maybe... But you?”

Darcy laughs, “Yep, so go to your room and get presentable already!”

Scott smiles then, and does just that. Being adopted... it's something he has all but given up on. He still doesn't know what to think though. He is dangerous, more so than anyone could possibly know. Still, he isn't about to sabotage his only ticket out of here. Since it's not as if he is any less dangerous here than anywhere else.

It's a few hours later and Scott finds himself sitting in the lounge with Ms. Appleby, the director of the group home. Across from hims is theoretically the person who wants to adopt him. But all he knows about him is that he is male and apparently is in a wheelchair. Is that why he is willing to adopt him? One cripple adopts another? Ms. Appleby is telling the man about him and she is clearly attempting to derail the adoption.

“Scott is well... Scott's condition is potentially dangerous to himself and others Mr. Xavier. I caution you before you make any hasty decisions regarding this boy.” It's rather obvious to Scott that he won't get a chance to say anything, the man is clearly going to leave immediately. So he is surprised when that doesn't happen.

Charles Xavier, to his Credit, has something different to say regarding the young man in front of him. He hasn't come all this way to be turned away by a cantankerous old lady after all. And more to the point, he is entirely aware of the potential dangers. One could even say the potential dangers are what brought him here in the first place. “On the contrary, my dear. It is precisely Scott's blindness that interests me. Everything I know about him shows me he has a special gift. You said he could see fine until an incident two years ago correct?”

“Yes...” She responds hesitantly.

“And that he has learned braille and how to navigate around the neighborhood, school and the group home almost perfectly on his own in a mere two years time?”

“...yes...”

“Then he is exactly the sort of young man I am looking for.” Charles pauses for a moment and Scott imagines he turns to face him. “Scott, I am intending to start an institute for the gifted and I can see little better place to start then with you. You are smart, capable and have little to lose. So if you want, we can be out of here by the end of the day?”

Scott is speechless. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he wasn't expecting this. As he thought, he hasn't been given the chance to speak, but only because apparently he hasn't needed to. Despite Appleby's warnings, it appears this Xavier person wants him. And for an institute for the gifted no less. Scott realizes he isn't stupid, but he never considered himself gifted, and still doesn't. Unless Xavier knows the truth behind his blindness, but that should hardly be considered a gift. More like a curse.

The rest of the day is spent getting Scott's stuff together. As Scott is leaving Dylan stops him, “Hey Scott, good going.” He then whispers into his ears, “Be careful, I don't want to hear about how you blew a guy in a wheelchair's head off okay?” Scott nods, taking the obvious joke more seriously than Dylan intends it to be taken. He then takes ahold of Xavier's wheelchair and lets it pull him out to the car, or van as it turns out to be.

Once he is seated in the front seat of the van and his seatbelt is securely fashioned, Xavier says, “Scott, I would like you to meet Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm. She is one of the future adult supervisors of the Institute, once she is done with her schooling.”

A deep and strong but motherly sounding female voice speaks, “Hello Scott, you are the first of what we hope are many others.” As she says this the van starts to move, “But let us dispense with the pleasantries. Now that we are on the road and in private we can speak of why we really wanted you.”

Xavier speaks up, “Indeed, while I was forced to beat around the bush in front of the people at the orphanage, I must speak frankly with you. I know about your eyes, or at least, I have a general idea of what they do.” Scott stiffens at this, “They emit some sort of concussive force that is quite destructive if my sources are correct.” Scott isn't really surprised, but hearing it spoken about so frankly still makes him nervous. “Well... are they?” Xavier asks. Scott isn't sure how to respond.

“Scott, perhaps it would be better if we were frank with you about our own abilities first.” Ororo speaks up. Scott is suddenly intrigued, their own abilities? What could they mean by that? “The reason I am called Storm is because I can manipulate the weather. A bit unbelievable I know, but is it any less believable than what you can do with your eyes?”

Scott thinks about it for a moment, “No... I guess its not...”

Xavier speaks next, or so Scott seems to sense, <I can speak directly into your mind. As well as move items around with my thoughts. I have other abilities as well, but those are the ones I use most often. It may not seem like it to you, but if you could see me you would realize that I am not speaking to you, but instead contacting your mind directly at this very moment.>

Scott isn't sure how to respond, “Um... isn't this a bit sudden? Wouldn't you expect someone to freak out or something?” He asks, more curiously than anything.

Xavier laughs, “And that is why I can feel safe being this direct and open with you. If you were another person I would certainly approach the topic more diplomatically, but I could tell from the beginning that you would be able to cope with what I have to say. After all, you did consent to having your own eyes sewn shut in order to block the... lets call them 'optic blasts' your eyes emit.”

Scott sighs, “Right. So your saying you're like me? But... that doesn't make much sense. Though we all seem to have powers, they seem completely unrelated to each other.”

Ororo responds this time, “But they are related Scott. While the way it manifests is different for each of us, our powers stem from the same thing: our genetics. Each of us, and by us I mean people like us, has a specific gene we call the X-factor gene. We refer to ourselves as mutants.”

Scott thinks for a moment, “...So I am one of these mutants?”

Xavier responds, “Yes, and that is enough for now. There is no need to overload you with information immediately. There will be time for this later. Right now, how would you like something to eat?”

Scott smiles at this. He is somewhat hungry, “Sure, so what are we going to get?”

Xavier laughs, “Well, what do you want? There is a French restaurant that I am quite fond of not to far from us.”

Scott gulps, “That sounds expensive...”

Xavier laughs again, making Scott slightly more nervous but Ororo's response relaxes him, “Really now Scott, I think your adoption is a special enough occasion and we are both happy to treat you.”

Scott smiles widely, “Then, can I get some wine?”

Xavier and Ororo chuckle at this, “Unfortunately, you're a bit young for wine. But I assure you there will be plenty of opportunities for that later as well.” Xavier says, “As I hope the arrangement we have made will be a long and happy one.”

Scott's smile turns into a grin at the thought, maybe just maybe things are starting to look up for him? He tries not to think about the rest of the things in his life: His lost family, his deadly vision, the loss of his only friends and think only about the good stuff. He has finally been adopted, and so far at least, he really likes the people who have done so.


	2. 1.2 Surface Nightmares

**Three Years Ago**

“So this is the Girl?” Charles says to the guard while looking through a window made of bullet proof glass. The fifteen year old red head is in a straight jacket and writhing around on the cushioned floor of the room. The room is notably completely devoid of everything, there isn't even a mattress for her to lay on. No one who hadn't seen it would believe why, except perhaps Charles Xavier and Logan.

“Yeah, she is relatively calm at the moment.” The guard looks at the two of them, “Are you sure you want to go in there? She can be pretty scary when she gets aggravated...”

Charles looks at the man, “Yes, I am.”

The guard nods and opens the door. Momentarily obscuring the guard's senses, Charles levitates himself onto the cushion and Logan enters the room. When nothing further happens, Charles says “You may shut the door.” The guard nods reluctantly, but shuts the door none the less.

“Your psychic shields seem to be working Chuck.” Logan says.

Charles nods, “We will see how effective they really are once she is made aware of our presence. Her powers are unstable and incredibly potent. If I am correct, and I have every reason to believe this is an underestimation, then she is probably hearing the thoughts of every thought capable living creature within at least ten miles of here aside of the two of us.”

Logan nods to him, “So what do we do then? We can't cart her out of here like this. And I can't say that knocking her upside the head is the best option.”

Charles nods, “It probably isn't... but it might be the only thing we can do. I will do my best to calm her down, but her mind is such a jumble I am not sure I will be able to make any more sense of it than she can. And doing anything here is dangerous. There are too many people around.”

Logan goes and stands right next to her, “Just say the word and I'll knock her out.”

Charles nods and then concentrates. The mind he finds is what he expected if not worse. Unable to make any useful sense of it, he decides to see if he can give her something concise to concentrate one, <Jean Grey, can you hear me?> There is no response, as if she is completely unaware of his presence, which he admits is entirely possible. <Jean, my name is Charles Xavier, and I–> He is suddenly cut off by a scream in his head that is also echoed by the girl in the room and a feeling of intense pain, and then its gone.

“Chuck are you okay?” Logan has her limp body in his hands as he speaks.

“Yes, but thank you Logan.” Charles says. He is still feeling a little light headed, but the pain is gone. “We should take her somewhere more secluded and then try this again. This time with me more prepared for what we are facing.”

Logan looks at him, “What exactly is it we are facing Chuck?” He asks.

“I do not know entirely, but it is incredibly powerful and...” He thinks for a second, “It may not just be her mutant abilities.”

Nothing more needs to be said as the two of them approach the guard, the unconscious Jean Grey in tow. “In order to complete the examination we will need to take her someplace else. Someplace completely secluded from all other people.”

The guard looks at them uneasily, “Jean's parents have given you the go ahead, and the doctors have cleared her to leave with you... But, are you sure about this? They haven't seen her at her worst... They haven't seen what I have seen.”

Charles looks at the guard and then looks into his mind. He has indeed seen a lot, more than he should Charles decides. After a little mental work the guard is a lot less spooked, “Okay then, you are cleared to leave.”

Logan looks at him as they leave the building, “It always weirds me out a little when you do that Chuck.”

Charles nods, “...It was a difficult decision to make. I knew he wasn't going to tell anyone about this, he felt no one would believe him. But his memories were too terrifying for him and he was having trouble sleeping at night. I felt that it would be a way to solve two potential problems at once...” Nevertheless he still shivers as he says this, uncomfortable with what he just allowed himself to do.

Logan sighs, “Are you sure this little one's worth all of this? I know how much you hate doing stuff like that Chuck.”

Charles shakes his head, “At this point it doesn't matter. We are too far in to stop now.”

Logan nods again, “I hope Scott will be ok at the institute by himself.” He says, mostly to change the subject.

Charles responds, “I hope so as well. Because this will likely take a lot longer than I initially expected.”

**Meanwhile**

Scott Summers is at his locker at school listening to his best friend Paul Haits talk, “I still don't understand why you don't go after Stacy, Scott. She totally digs you.”

Scott laughs, “I think she digs my shades more than me.”

Paul laughs, “So? I can think of worse reasons to date a girl.”

Scott shakes his head and snickers, “And I can think of better reasons. And none of them matter because I am not interested in Stacy.”

Paul shakes his head, “You're not interested in anybody. I would ask if you were gay, but you don't look around in the locker room anymore than you peek at the cheerleading squad.” He then looks at Scott more seriously, “Not that I would care, if you we're gay that is.”

Scott smiles at him, “Not that it's any of your business, but no, I'm not.”

Paul smiles, “Ok then, so what about Stacy do you not like? She's hot!”

Scott shakes his head again, still smiling, “Have you ever actually talked to her? She is dumb as a brick.”

Paul sighs, “Ok, so maybe intelligent conversation isn't her strong suit, but her breasts are great.”

Scott laughs, “Ok, you got me there. But some of us aren't so chauvinistic as to go after a woman just for her breasts.”

Paul sighs again then laughs, “Ok, so if your not going after breasts what are you looking for in a girl?”

Scott blushes, “Uh... I'm not sure to be honest. Intelligent conversation at least. Would I mind an attractive girl with gorgeous breasts? Of course not, why would I mind that? But, I guess that's not that important to me.”

Paul sighs again, “And, indecisiveness wins the day. Honestly Scott, you've got to have some woman issues, cause you're one of the most decisive people I know most of the time and you don't have a clue when it comes to girls.”

Scott smirks and tries to turn the tables on him, “Well, what do you want in a woman?”

Paul smirks, “A hot bod and the willingness to put out. Intelligence is nice too, but...”

Scott thwacks his shoulder, “Come on man, really. I know you're not that much of a jerk.”

Paul smiles and blushes, “Yeah, you got me. I want the bod of course, but I also want someone who really cares you know. I could care less how smart she is, she could be a total bimbo for all I care. Bimbos need love too. But she has to be sweet and caring. If she's that, then I'm fine.”

Scott's smirk becomes a smile, “Well, you got that right.” He slaps Paul on the back lightly, “So what do you want to do tonight? The Professor isn't in so I don't have to be home.”

Paul smiles, “Well well, do I sense a rebellious streak I didn't know you had?”

Scott shakes his head, “Not really, it's just that with no one there I have nothing to do at home. It's not like I have a curfew or anything. A schedule of things I am supposed to do, but no curfew.”

Paul raises an eyebrow, “Isn't a schedule of things to do effectively a curfew anyway if you have to be at home to do them?”

“I guess. It just never felt like one. So far as I know no one would care if I wanted to go out afterwards, so long as I got my work done and got to bed at a reasonable hour.”

“What's a 'reasonable hour?'” Paul uses his hands to quote reasonable hour.

“I'm not sure, I really never thought about it. I think the Professor and Logan just don't worry about it because they trust me to be responsible.”

Paul's face evens out into a curious expression Scott has seen plenty of times before, “I still don't understand why you refer to him as the Professor. Didn't he adopt you? Doesn't that make him your father?”

Scott sighs, “I suppose technically, but he never tried to be a father to me and I have thought of him more like a teacher or mentor than a father. It's not a bad thing really, I just think that neither of us ever intended to have that kind of relationship with each other.”

Paul sighs too, “I can't imagine what it must be like, living at an institute made for super smart people. It'd be like coming from school to school again instead of home.”

“In a way, it kind of is like that.” Scott sits down on a bench outside the front of Bayville High. “But its not bad, it's not like I spend all my time studying or anything.”

Paul shakes his head, “It's weird but, I thought you were going to be like this uber geek when I first met you, like you'd be super smarter than me or something.”

Scott looks at Paul evenly, “You're not stupid Paul.”

Paul nods, “Yeah, but I'm no genius either. I knew you were living at that institute for gifted youngsters, we all did. I just expected you to seem more... gifted I guess.” Paul then seems to catch himself, “Not that I think you're stupid but...”

Scott frowns but responds, “No I understand what you mean. I was surprised too when the Professor came to me.”

Paul nods, “That was two years ago right?”

Scott nods, “Yep, and at the time I didn't have any idea why the Professor wanted me.”

Paul looks at him, “And do you now?”

Scott freezes up. What should he say? He probably shouldn't have let the conversation go in this direction at all, but he just needs someone to talk to. Will Paul understand? He has no idea. Still, he has to respond somehow, “I have an idea.”

Paul raises an eyebrow, “And?”

Scott tries to think of an excuse but he can't lie to Paul, at least not anymore than he already has, and he isn't sure he can tell him the complete truth either, so he just says the closest thing to what he is really thinking that he feels he can say safely, “Can we talk about this later? I kind of want to enjoy my time off. The institute can be pretty grueling.”

Paul smiles, “Sure man, I know you'll tell me eventually. So you wanna go see a movie?”

Scott sighs. He isn't sure how his glasses will work in the dim lighting as it varies from theater to theater. And it's not as if he could watch a movie with them off, he would blast a hole straight through the screen, “Uh... sure. What do you want to see?”

Paul throws his arm over Scott's shoulder, “Action! I think Terminator 2 is playing at the multi-plex's flashback flicks.”

Scott smiles again. He hasn't actually seen that movie, but loved the first and well, its better than sitting at home alone, “You're on!”

**Meanwhile**

The place where Charles and Logan have stopped is a clearing in the middle of a forest at least ten miles from civilization in all directions, “I think this will have to do Logan.” Charles says, though there is obvious reluctance in his voice.

Logan sighs, “Yeah, this place is pretty remote, not a high chance of someone stumbling upon what we're doing. But, there is also a lot of stuff around too.”

Charles nods, “Yes, and that could be a problem. In the likely case that her telekinesis goes out of control, you will have to keep me and her from getting injured long enough for me to be able to calm her down.”

Logan nods reluctantly, “I don't really know what to do Chuck, I haven't ever fought forest brush before. Maybe bringing Storm would've been better?”

Charles shakes his head, “You will be able to tell if others are coming, and Storm's powers are a lot more overt than yours. Though that is also largely irrelevant anyway, as Ororo has midterms all next week and needs the time to study.”

Logan nods, “Yeah yeah, I know. So what do you want me to do?”

“You should probably act as if the brush is attempting to attack us and treat it accordingly. Depending on how her powers work, it may or may not respond to physical assault. It may cut her off from it, it may limit her ability to manipulate it or it may have no effect at all aside of the physical damage to the brush itself. What is more important than stopping what's happening is making sure we remain as undisturbed as possible. Often an uncontrolled surge of a mutant power, especially telepathic and telekinetic power, causes the mutant duress which causes the surge to get worse creating a self compounding problem. I am not entirely sure, but I think that may be what we are dealing with here already, which is why it is so important that I get through to her as soon as possible.”

Logan nods, “So basically, you sit here trying to calm her down while I get battered around by bushes?”

Charles nods, “I am sorry to say that seems the most likely scenario.”

Logan looks at Jean, “The things I do for these kids.”

“I am sure they appreciate it Logan. Even if they don't always show it.”

Logan nods, “I couldn't not do it even if they didn't. What can I say? I have a soft spot for the tykes.”

Charles smiles, “It's a soft spot that is much obliged by all involved.”

Logan shakes his head, “Can we get started Chuck? All this flattery is embarrassing me.”

Charles laughs, “Of course.” His face then hardens, “I am going to nudge her mind awake, be ready for anything Logan. We don't know what she will do. We have been talking about her telekinesis flaring up, but it is possible her telepathy could flare up too, and since I will not be able to protect our minds and deeply probe hers at the same time, we may have to deal with telepathic intrusion as well as telekinetic backlash.”

Logan nods, “I'm ready as I'll ever be.”

Charles nods, and then shuts his eyes and then a young girl's screams can be heard.

**Meanwhile**

Scott isn't sure what to do. The movie is long over and it's getting late. While it is a Friday night and so he has little reason to go home, he also has little reason to stay out, except of course, still hanging out with Paul without taking him to the institute. Technically, he hasn't been forbidden to bring his friends over. Just given the stipulation that it's not a good idea unless its planned well in advance. Of course, as he is the only person there at the moment, with Charles and Logan gone for at least another night and Ororo off at her dormitory studying, there is little chance of anything happening. Unless of course he makes it happen, which is the other thing he is considering.

Is it possible that Paul could understand? Could Scott have a friend his age he can talk to about this? The professor had assured him that he wouldn't be the only person here. But that was two years ago and now Scott is getting tired of bottling everything up. Sure Ororo is college aged, and that is closer to his age than the others, but he still can't help but feel like the kid of the place. Of course, he is the kid of the place, but that knowledge does little to help his situation.

“So we got dinner and it's Friday night. We got no girls and we're a couple of fifteen year old guys. We got the entire town...” Paul starts.

“...of Bayville. There's not a lot here.” Scott deadpans.

Paul sighs, “Yeah... But that still doesn't answer the important question. What are we going to do?”

Scott looks at him, “Don't you have a curfew?”

Paul laughs, “I called my dad on the phone while we we're at Burger King. Apparently you are such a good influence that he's letting me stay out at long as I want.”

Scott looks at him curiously, “Really?” Paul's father is a pretty no nonsense kind of guy. He's not overly strict, or a bad father or person in any respect, but he isn't known for letting Paul off his leash.

Paul smiles, “I know right? But I think the fact that its Friday night has to do with it. He wants some quality time with mom if you know what I mean.”

Scott balks, “Ew! I did not need that image!”

Paul laughs, “See? Told ya. Woman issues.”

Scott looks Paul in the eyes, “That has nothing to do with anything. I did not need the image of your parents getting it on in my head.”

Paul 's laughing gets harder, “You thought it, I only...”

“...greatly implied it.”

Paul shakes his head jokingly, “Well, its not like its a secret. Chances are your parents were doing it at some point too. In fact, I can guarantee it. You gotta live a little. I love ya man, but you can really be kind of a prude sometimes.”

Scott stares at him a moment then smirks jokingly, “Now who's gay?”

Paul laughs, “Well I'm not, but if I was, you would totally... wait... no you wouldn't be my type. You're an attractive guy but I could never get any play out of you.”

Scott smiles again, “You really just don't care do you? About that kind of stuff.”

Paul's laugh levels to a smile, “Why should I? Gay, straight, black, white... Its all just lines we draw between people.”

Scott sighs, “You got that line from your mother didn't you?”

Paul's smile deepens to a grin, “Both my parents actually, my father is all like, 'Everyone is under God's graces. It is not our place to judge, we should love everyone for who they are.'”

Scott laughs, “I always thought your father was one of those pinhead zealots.”

“He is. He is just a pinhead zealot with an open minded religious philosophy. You should see him yell at some of the people at the church across the street from ours. He gets just as angry as the closed minded assholes he argues with.”

Scott sighs, “I have known you for a long time and I feel like I just learned who your father really is.”

Paul sighs, “You're really evasive Scott, and you never asked. It took me sitting next to you for a week to even get you to talk to me.”

Scott smirks at him, “If I remember correctly you wanted to get me to do your homework for you.”

Paul smirks back, “That went well, you came over to my house and we spent nearly the entire evening playing Street Fighter. We both then rushed to get our homework done in like half an hour. You finished your stuff fine, I on the other hand bombed another assignment.”

Scott laughs, “Well I just understand math.”

Paul gives an over dramatic frown, “And however many times you explain it to me I never seem to get any of it.” He raises his hands in the air over dramatically, “And despite this you will won't do my homework for me!”

Scott shakes his head, “I'm not doing your homework for you. You need to learn this stuff or your just gonna bomb the tests anyway.”

Paul sighs, “Lets talk about something else, cause in case you forgot, I do bomb the tests.”

Scott puts his arm over Paul's shoulder, “Sure, so... That was a long tangential conversation.”

Paul laughs again and then jumps out from under Scott's arm spins around and starts walking backwards in front of him. “So, what should we do? Already ate, got all the time in the world.”

Scott deadpans again, “And... we are still stuck in Bayville.”

Paul shakes his head still laughing, “Prudish Scott shows his head again. You gotta learn to think positive sometimes. Look at your limitations as possibilities.”

Scott looks at him, “What do you mean?”

Paul stops and looks Scott approximately what he thinks 'in the eyes' should be, “Stop thinking 'we're in Bayville there is nothing to do here' and start thinking 'what could we do in Bayville.'”

Scott thinks for a second, “Well... we could go to... uh...”

Paul shakes his head, “I would suggest the mall, but its been closed for twenty minutes.”

Scott sighs, “The docks are kinda cool. We could hang out there and watch the stars.”

Paul raises an eyebrow at Scott, “Your really pushing it with that. You probably can't even see half the stars with those red tinted shades you always wear. Unless they like, somehow only look red one way.”

“No, I see everything in red.” Scott admits.

Paul looks at him curiously for a moment, “What? Are you trying to delay going home now?”

Scott looks at him, “Well... its not that its just that... well... I still want to hang out but I'm not sure I should take you there. At least not without asking first and since no one is there.”

Paul looks at him smiling again, “No problem, we can just go our separate ways Scott. Its not like we haven't done that before.”

Scott sighs, “Yeah I know, but its Friday night and its barely 10:30 and if I went home I would just sit around playing video games.”

“You see, I don't see that as a bad thing at all.”

Scott looks at Paul again, “Me neither, but I would rather hang out.”

Paul shrugs, “I would suggest we go to my house, but as I said I think the rents want me out of the house right now.”

Scott shrugs, “Well... ok, we can go to the institute.”

Paul looks at him with a raised eyebrow, “You sure about that man? I don't want you to get in trouble.”

Scott smiles, “I wasn't really worried about that. But I have to warn you, the place has some pretty weird stuff in it.”

Paul shrugs, “I can't imagine anything I would find too weird.”

Scott sighs unsure of what to say, “Just don't say I didn't warn you.”

**Meanwhile**

“Uh Chuck?” Logan slashes at a long stick that is headed straight for his chest. It gets chopped in half and the two pieces miss his head but a bush slams into the back of his legs almost knocking him off his feet entirely. Logan isn't sure how long its been since Charles started working with her, but the brush is now flying around in a chaotic tornado and it doesn't seem like its dying down, if anything its getting worse and Charles and the girl are stuck in a trance. If that isn't bad enough, the girl keeps screaming.

“Right, I'll just...” A stick slams into the side of his head mid sentence and Logan goes back to clearing out the flying brush.

Despite his body's apparent tranquility, Charles isn't faring much better against the power and chaos of her mind. At least her telepathic powers aren't nearly as developed as her telekinesis. While she is able to pick up the surface thoughts of everything around her, including animal life much to Charles' dismay, they are disorganized and not particularly deep. She isn't reaching deep into minds, just grabbing at everything easily reachable. This means that at the very least Charles isn't having to fight against strong telepathic defenses in addition to the chaos of her mind.

He has since given up on finding a way to calm her at her current level of power. He has come to the conclusion that the level of power is not only beyond her control, it is also simply beyond her capability to generate. Meaning that either her mutant ability is harnessing an outside source, an outside source is using her body as a conduit or both. In order to get her to calm down, Charles must first quell this source of power. Unfortunately, finding it in the mess of her mind is proving rather difficult.

<Jean!> Charles tries once more, <Jean I need your...>

{You wish to speak with the girl?} A voice that defies gender or perhaps even humanity speaks to him.

<Yes, I do.> Charles responds, realizing he must finally be speaking with the source of her errant power.

{...I understand, you wish to free her from my grasp...} The voice speaks and then Charles feels as if his mind is being incinerated, {You will not be rid of me that easily human!}

Logan turns as Charles' screaming joins the girls. But this is nothing compared to the two of them being lifted off the ground in a massive release of telekinetic energy. A fiery glow surrounds the girl and Charles, a glow which is scalding to the touch. Logan swings his claws at the brush as much as he can climbing a tree to reach the pair. Once he thinks he can make it he jumps only to find the fire burns quite like a real inferno, he is certain if it weren't for his regenerative capabilities his skin would be burnt completely off but he manages to grab Charles and the girl as they float into the air and halt their ascent though he finds himself hanging onto them suspended in mid air in the process. They remain in their trance though, which Logan is no longer sure is such a good thing.

Charles on the other hand is fighting for his life against a force so powerful he is certain were it acting on him directly he would have no capability of stopping it. He knows his only chance at survival and at saving this girls life is somehow blocking its power, assuming he cannot convince it to stop. <I do not wish to be rid of you, but she cannot control your power. It will destroy her.>

{You do not understand what you are dealing with human. You do not understand the power I wield.} A vision of a bird composed entirely of fire appears before Charles in the mental plane as the voice speaks. Charles can finally see where it is entering her mind, where its power is connected to her. As a result he also realizes that while it may be attempting to utilize her body, it is her mutant power that allows it to do so. Her mind is very clearly attached to it, in an astral connection that he has actually seen before, simply never attached to something this powerful.

<Ah but I do. Your power is limited to what you can use through her.> He says to it, fairly certain that it is bound somewhere outside the world and that it is acting through another as a result..

{She is a near perfect vessel for my power.}

Charles realizes something and tries to reason with it again, <She will not be a vessel for anything's power if she is dead. And she cannot control your power. It is killing her.>

{Of course she cannot control my power. I am a force of nature and she is a mere human being!}

Charles forces his mind against the fire again, this time far more ready for its burning onslaught, <No. She is no mere human and neither am I!> The being seems unprepared for the sheer power of his assault and before it can adjust itself he forms a barrier around it. The fiery bird screams but cannot seem to break free of his wall. Its power cut off for the moment, Charles makes his move, slamming it down back through the point which it accessed her mind. It screams, apparently surprised at his might. Charles seals up the point of entry with the most powerful ward he can. He realizes however that the only reason he was capable of such a feat was not because he was more powerful than it, on the contrary, it was far more powerful than he. It did not understand the human mind and that is how Charles beat it. That victory is likely temporary, Charles knows, but he can hopefully steel Jean's mind and eventually, it might be safe to let the beast out. It is her mutant ability which is allowing it to utilize her power, so it makes sense that she, with a little more knowledge, might be able to control that power herself.

Logan, Charles and the girl are lowered to the ground slowly and the fire stops. As does the flying brush. _Ok Chuck, looks like its up to you now._ He thinks when he sees that though the power surge seems to have stopped, the two of them are still in their trance.

<Jean I can help you just latch onto my thoughts.> Charles thinks to her. Now that the external power source has been removed, her thoughts are a lot less chaotic. She is still picking up a large number of mental images, but they are no longer nearly as overwhelming as before.

<Who are you? What's going on?> The voice of a confused girl speaks.

<I am Charles Xavier and I am here to help you. You must clear your mind and attempt to block it from the outside world.>

<I do not understand!> The voice says, trembling, <Help me!>

Charles hates this part, but he realizes it may just be necessary. To actively block another telepath's power can stunt their development. But it is obviously clear that Jean Grey has not been allowed to utilize her power at all since whatever that entity was had entered her mind. Her power had grown but she had never been given the chance to even attempt to practice it and so now she has no conception of how to do so. <Try to latch onto my voice, I am going to try to block the other things out but I must find you first.>

<I... I don't.> The girl sounds terrified, but her thinking is enough for Charles to find her himself and he thanks his luck when he finders her astral body very much intact. She had apparently shielded herself from the beast using most of her telepathic abilities, which would explain why her mental plane was so confused. She wasn't attempting to utilize it at all, rather she had cut herself off from it and trapped herself in a little safety bubble. This works in Charles favor for what he is attempting to do, though he realizes it will most certainly be a problem for her development in the long run if it's not worked out rather quickly.

Charles forms a barrier around her barrier and starts to push it outwards, making sure to check each individual thing it reaches once he gets to it. None of them end up being anything from her mind, a fact for which he is glad, but it was a necessary precaution lest he damage her mind with the very shield designed to protect it.

After the incredibly long process is finished, Charles finds the girl still in her bubble. <I have removed that which has been bothering you Jean. Will you please come out so we may speak?>

<Who are you?> The field is still there but Charles starts to make out the details of the girl behind it.

<As I said before, I am Charles Xavier.> He listens for the inevitable followup to that question.

<You got rid of it?>

Charles is momentarily surprised. He was expecting something more along the lines of 'what's happening to me?' <Yes.>

The bubble around her thins out and she looks around, <Really?>

Charles mentally nods at her, <Yes, it should be safe to come out.> And with that the mental plane disappears, making Charles realize he is being pushed out of her mind.

Logan sees both the girl and Charles stir. They had been locked in their trance for nearly twenty four hours since the telekinetic turbulence had ceased so he imagines they are both hungry. The girl opens her eyes and happens to be looking at him. She smiles and says, “You're a sight for sore eyes. Ever consider a shave?” He hears Charles laugh weakly as he comes out of his trance, both of them are obviously exhausted.

Logan hands them the rations he and Charles had prepared for just such an occurrence, “You guys are probably hungry.”

The girl grabs it, obviously starving. Charles also takes it with perhaps a little more urgency than would be normal for the man. As they eat Logan speaks. “You guys look beat.”

Charles nods, “Yes, I think I should take a rest soon.”

The girl also nods, “Yeah, I could use some shut eye. Thanks though. I imagine you guys are gonna tell me what's going on later right?”

Charles looks at her and speaks, “Yes, but I think we should get some rest first.”

The girl nods, “Yeah.”

Logan picks up Charles and puts him in his wheelchair. The girl seems capable of walking, though it's obviously effort for her. To her credit though, she puts effort into it and makes her way to their vehicle without the help of anything but a few trees. Nothing else is said as they get into it and Logan drives them towards home, even breathing coming from the back as the girl and Charles quickly fall asleep.

**Previous Evening**

“I thought you said this place was weird?” Paul says to Scott as they enter the door. “Its certainly nice, but nothing all that odd.”

 _You have no idea._ Scott thinks to himself but says, “Yeah, its not like everything here is odd. Just a few things.”

“Like what?”

 _I have already gone this far._ “Like my room, come on.” Scott leads Paul down the hall towards his room on the first floor. There are other bedrooms, other floors. But considering the Professor's wheelchair and the fact that there are currently at most only four people living there at that point, they all pretty much live on the first floor.

“Huh? What's so weird about... whoa!” Paul is momentarily speechless when he looks into Scott's room. “Like pink much?”

Scott sighs, “I guess, I can't really tell.”

Paul looks at him funny, “What do you mean you can't really tell? Don't tell me you're color blind?”

Scott turns his head to face his friend, “I wasn't last I knew.” He says honestly.

Paul notices Scott's evasiveness. “...Scott what do you mean? Last you knew? You can see right? I mean, I know you carry around a blind man's cane, everyone knows that, but I assumed by the fact that you never use it that you can see.”

Scott nods, “I can see.”

Paul looks around, “Then how can you not really tell me whether you like pink? Basically your entire room is this reddish off pink color.”

Scott sighs, “Yeah, the same color as my glasses right?”

Paul looks at him again, “I didn't notice before but you're right. So those glasses only let you see in shades of pinkish red?”

Scott nods.

Paul looks at him funnily, “Then why do you wear them?”

Scott closes his eyes and then takes a deep breath, he needs to be ready for this, to take the plunge. He should talk to Charles first, he should ask Ororo, he should do a lot of things but he has the nerve to do this now and he doesn't know if he will ever get it again and none of them are here. “Because I see in red anyway and all I can see without them... is destruction.”

Paul looks entirely confused at this statement, “Are you trying to tell me your schizophrenic and require red shaded glasses to not see things?” Scott sighs. He supposes that's a more reasonable explanation than the real one even if it's really farfetched. Paul continues, “Because that still would only barely explain the walls of your room.”

Scott sighs, “No... here stand to the side.” Paul does so but not enough, “No like... here, go stand over there.” Scott points to a location on the other side of the room.

With one more look in Paul's direction, Paul looks very confused. _It's now or never,_ Scott thinks again and then looks at the wall, focuses his vision forward and takes off his glasses.

“Uh... Scott... Am I going insane or are your eyes emitting red light?” As he says this he starts to approach.

Scott almost panics before he realizes he just needs to tell him the truth before he hurts him, “Don't touch them. They are beams of concussive force.”

Paul's voice gets a little weird, “Uh... beams of concussive force?”

Scott shuts his eyes and then puts on his glasses again, “Yes, beams of concussive force. I refer to them as optic blasts. They are quite destructive actually... that's why I wear these glasses all the time and why my room is that color, because they are made of a substance which blocks them.”

When he looks at Paul, his heart skips a beat. Paul's face is white, “Uh... so if your glasses were to come off or... fail for some reason and you were looking at me?”

Scott begins to shake, “I would shut my eyes.”

Paul also begins to shake, “But if let's say you didn't or couldn't for some reason?”

Scott feels tears come to his eyes, but of course they are vaporized by his optic blasts before they can even reach the rims. “Paul, I... I... would never...”

Paul's shaking continues, “This is insane. I am insane. There is no way your eyes shoot lasers. It's just...”

Scott walks towards him slowly but he is crying, “Paul! I wouldn't ever hurt you I...”

Paul says, “It's true... I'm not insane... The universe is just insane...”

Scott continues towards Paul only to have him scream, “DON'T LOOK AT ME!”

Scott turns around and faces away from his friend, “Paul, I told you because I... have no one to.”

Paul's voice is shaky still, “Scott... I know... I... But... I just can't handle this.”

Scott sighs. He knows he has made a mistake, but just how much of one he still needs to find out. “You're not going to tell anyone?”

Paul's voice is harsh, “I should! You could hurt someone! ...but I won't. Who would believe me? And... I really don't want you to get hurt either. I just... I... I'm scared! I... I'm sorry.” And with that Scott hears running

He turns around and rushes towards the hall but by the time he reaches it, the front door is swinging shut. _Why did he bother to shut the door?_ Scott asks himself, even though this thought is ridiculous considering what had just occurred.

The front room looks oddly normal. The door hadn't even slammed. Paul had taken the time to actually shut it. It's almost enough for Scott to convince himself that it didn't happen. That he didn't just screw himself and possibly everyone else here over.

With a final sigh he goes to his room, shuts the door and throws his glasses off. He looks around and it looks the same as it does when he has his glasses on. He shuts his eyes and feels around until he finds them again and puts them on. When he opens them again he has the oddest thought. He begins to wonder what it would look like for his optic blasts to hit Paul. He doesn't know what a prolonged continuous blast would do to a person, but he has a few guesses. He can only imagine it for a moment before he is sick to his stomach. _I will never hurt him._ Scott says, _I told him I would never hurt him._ Scott goes over to his bed, shuts his eyes, takes off his glasses and then lays his head down. He is asleep moments later.

**The Next Day**

Scott is eating breakfast when Jean, Charles and Logan get back. When he sees Jean he blushes. He doesn't know why but for some reason she gets to him. Well no, he knows why: She is beautiful. He just doesn't know why he finds her beautiful. Unfortunately that only distracts him from the situation with Paul for a moment. Charles looking at him only serves to remind him of it even more. Scott can never be sure when the man is just insightful or is reading his thoughts, though he is fairly certain he doesn't just read the minds of the people around him on a whim. Nevertheless, Charles has a knowing look on his face. Logan can definitely tell something is up too.

Jean walks up to him, “Uh... you know it's generally considered rude to stare. But it's also kind of rude to look at a girls boobs and then act like they ruined your day.”

Scott blinks for a moment, “Huh?” He says, obviously confused.

Charles laughs and his demeanor changes as if the moment of contention hadn't happened. Scott knows that isn't the end of it though. If nothing else Logan is still eying him. “Scott Summers, meet Jean Grey.” Charles says motioning them together.

Jean takes one more look at Scott and then smirks. “Hello Scott.” She winks at him, then turns to Logan. “Now, Logan. You mentioned something about a Danger Room?”

Logan smiles at her, “Yep. Wanna see it?”

Jean smiles and laughs, “Do I ever!” She then turns to Scott and smirks at him, “Bye Scott.” She then follows Logan out of the room. Scott just stares. He has only known this girl for all of five minutes and he is already completely unsure about her. He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. He has more immediate problems than his obvious attraction to this new girl.

Charles wheels himself over to Scott once Logan and Jean are out of earshot. “Scott, what is bothering you?” Charles asks in a stern but understanding tone.

Scott sighs and leans against the table, “I made a mistake. I showed Paul my optic blasts.”

Charles sighs, “And how did he react?”

Scott hangs his head towards the floor, “He freaked out. He was terrified. He... he told me not to look at him, yelled at me not to. Then he ran off.”

Charles nods, “You realize I am going to have to do something about this?”

Scott looks up, “You... you're not going to erase his memory are you?”

“If I have to.” Charles shuts his eyes. Scott knows he is mentally searching for Paul so he just waits. “I found him. He is by the pier. He is... thinking about looking at the stars and... you.” Charles is silent for a moment longer, “...I do not believe it is necessary to erase his memories... However it might be for the best if I do anyway. He is... I believe this is going to effect him greatly.”

Scott looks down at the floor again, “But...”

Scott doesn't notice Charles wheeling up to him until he is lifting his chin the small distance necessary for them to meet each other's gazes. “I do believe he could get over this Scott. He is scared but he is just as scared for you as he is for himself. He is hurting and he wishes this had never happened. He wants to forget Scott, or at least in his desperation and fear he thinks he does.” Scott continues to stare into Charles eyes, “But you know him better than I do."

Scott starts shaking, “But... you can read his mind. You know him better than anyone don't you?”

Charles shakes his head, “It doesn't work that way. No amount of telepathy can make up for actual contact. People's mental state is inconsistent, chaotic and not always indicative of their actions. Some people act on their thoughts readily, others hide them away or deny them completely.” His stare seems to get deeper and Scott cannot be sure that he isn't peering into his mind as well as his shades, “So Scott... I can tell you he keeps telling himself that he cannot tell anybody and that he wants more than anything to not be afraid of you. What do you think? Will he act on those thoughts? Or will he deny them?”

Scott holds his breath for a moment. His friend's mind is at stake here. He is being asked to make a decision that he really doesn't feel he has the right to make. Yet it must be made. It's more than just Paul's or his life on the line here. If it were the decision would be easy, but it's not. “You cannot make this decision lightly Scott. You are correct in thinking that you do not really have the right to.”

Scott's eyes widen, “Were you reading my mind?” He asks, not really sure why he cares more now then he would at any other point, but he does.

Charles shakes his head slowly never breaking his stare, “No, it is written all over you. And I would expect no less from you. If you weren't taking this as seriously as you are I would not be asking you about this at all.”

Scott shuts his eyes for a moment and thinks about Paul. Happy smiling Paul, and then terrified Paul. Joking Paul and then sad Paul. Paul is his best friend. Even the fact that Paul is terrified of him does not change that. And he realizes that he believes he is Paul's best friend. And even terrified of him, he knows his best friend would not betray him. He opens his eyes, “I think we should let him keep his memories. I believe he will act on his thoughts. I... Paul is my best friend and I trust him.”

Charles nods, “I am inclined to agree with you. But I will be keeping an eye on him. If worse comes to worse I will have to alter his mind. And the longer it has been since the incident, the more dangerous to him that would be.” Charles then smiles, “That said? I am proud of you.”

Scott is a little surprised, “But I screwed up. I told someone without discussing it with you. And now we have a potential security risk.”

Charles shakes his head knowingly, “But you know that and I cannot blame you for what you did. I cannot say I would have done anything different in your place. And the way you handled this most important decision shows how right I was in picking you.”

Scott sighs again, “I don't really understand.”

Charles laughs a little, “I don't really expect you to. But I am certain you will in time.” He starts to wheel away but then stops and leans over his shoulder looking at Scott again, “And Scott? Paul is a strong person. I am convinced you will have your friend back. It may not be immediately. It may be years from now in fact, but I would bet that it will happen.”

Scott smiles as Charles continues to wheel himself towards the living room. He doesn't entirely trust that Charles is right, but at the very least it gives him a little more piece of mind that he is not the only one here who is putting his faith in his friend.

Jean sticks her head out from the hallway, “Hey shades! You coming?” She says to him as she wiggles her eyebrows.

Scott stares for a moment, “Shades?”

Jean laughs, “Would you prefer Pinkeye?”

Scott shakes his head, “Don't you dare!”

Jean pulls her head back, “Shades it is then!”

Scott runs around the corner only to see her charge into the downstairs elevator again, _Oh no you don't! I'm gonna get you!_ He thinks, though he has a smile on his face, and the thoughts of Paul fade into the background for far more pleasant thoughts of a certain redhead who he is not going to let get away with giving him that terrible nickname!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who might be curious, Paul is Scott's best friend from X-Men Evolution Seasons 1 and 2.


	3. 1.3: Steel Dealings

**Six Months Ago**

“Now Jean, you know how this works. Please start.” Jean stands in the Danger Room surrounded by a ring of sporadically placed blocks. She has done this drill many times before. In theory it's simple. All she has to do is use her telekinesis to suspend the blocks in the air in the shape of an upside down pyramid. While there are a large number of blocks, the volume of material is not the issue here as she has lifted far more massive objects in the past. The problem is the fact that she has to keep hold of a large number of separate things for an extended period of time while still being able to manipulate the individual blocks which are not yet part of the structure. In the year and a half since she had first done this activity, she had yet to succeed at making the complete pyramid, though she keeps getting closer and closer each time she tries.

Watching Jean and Charles work is always fascinating for Scott. Any training he gets is rather different. Agility, stamina, focus, aim, blind fighting. Since he can't deactivate his power, his power training generally isn't about concentration. It's about safety, intelligence and more practical concerns. He has a visor for official operations made of the ruby quartz alloy which blocks his optic blasts. It technically has four flaps which can be opened to allow use of his power from either eye, or in extreme circumstances, both eyes. His code name, Cyclops, is entirely a misnomer. Jean called him that when she saw his visor and it stuck. He usually opens one of the flaps, generally his left one while using his other eye to aim the beam. He still needs practice utilizing both beams at the same time without blowing things up. The visor has a sliding scale, so he can use the visor itself to control the area of the beams, but the power seems to be more based on how he focuses his eyes, which has the unfortunate side effect of making it rather difficult to use them at their best in any safe manner. Predictably, Jean does not find Scott's training nearly as interesting as Scott finds Jean's.

Not that Jean understands Scott's fascination with her training. When she watches it, all it looks like is a bunch of blocks building themselves into an upside down pyramid, pretty cool to see once, but nothing that special, especially when it keeps falling apart midway only to be built more or less the same way again. She at one point had told him that if she didn't know better, that he just liked laughing at her fail over and over again.

He had responded with a smirk, "I like laughing at your success too."

It would have been funny to her if it had been true even once. She'd considered cheating and creating a pyramid shaped telekinetic field, but that would have defeated the purpose of the exercise: to help her have better control over telekinetic multitasking, so she'd reluctantly decided not to. But, today she is going to find out whether he was truthful or not without cheating. It isn't that she is stronger or more focused, it's exactly the opposite. She'd been trying to concentrate so much that she'd forgotten how easily her power came to her. She had always been trying to concentrate on all of the blocks at once, and the more blocks there were the larger strain it was, but the previous night she had a revelation.

She had been playing video games in her room, and doing it rather terribly, but the more she concentrated on what she was doing, the worse she got, until she just gave up and sulked for a while. She couldn't sleep though, so she started playing again and was in the zone. Maybe it was her half asleep state, or maybe it was some obscure alignment of the stars, because though she'd done this many times before and had the realization that she was better at video games when she didn't try so hard, she'd never had that realization about her powers.

Not that she plans to just let her unconscious control the blocks on its own. She's very aware how terrible an idea that is, but she needs to think about this differently. She needs to train her mind to hold the blocks without her focusing on it. Something she actually already knows how to do, she has just never done it before with so many things.

So she takes a deep breath, tones Charles' voice saying, "concentrate" over and over again in various ways out of her head and just starts feeling it out. She quickly opens her eyes and sees the pyramid already beginning to take shape. Now that she isn't wracking her brain trying to keep track of each individual block, she finds herself enjoying this. She points her hand like a gun at where a block needs to go and says, "Bam." She then makes the motion of a pitch for another.

When Charles frowns at her, she checks to make sure she hasn't been accidentally cheating but finds she is aware of each individual block, and can maneuver them at a moment's notice. She just can't move them all at once. The rest of the pyramid will be easy as pie. That is until Charles switches it up.

"It seems you have gotten rather adept at this since Saturday." _Oh no._ She knows that tone. That's his mischievous knowing professor tone. "You don't seem to need any more practice making the pyramid. Instead, I want you to turn the entire thing over."

Jean raises an eyebrow at him, her previous expression replaced by an irritated scowl. The grin on his face is palpable and it's all she can do to not give the finger to the magnificent bastard. The biggest joke is that no one who isn't telekinetic would realize how difficult the seemingly simple request is and cheating, either by only controlling the outer blocks or making a telekinetic field around them isn't an option because she will likely lose her passive awareness of some of them in the process and not be able to do anything with the ones she loses if he asks her to. And she knows him well enough to know he will. He isn't the type to catch you cheating and point it out. No, he'll just make you do something that will catch you in the act and embarrass you all the more. It's a trait of his she both loves and despises.

The difficult thing about this is controlling all the blocks at the same time, because just moving the blocks by pushing them with the other blocks might not move her telekinetic awareness of them. If she does that, the entire thing will just fall apart. There is no trick she can use, she just has to flex her mental muscles all at once and turn it over as quickly as possible to avoid too much strain. So she does and she almost completes it but she loses her grip in the top most blocks of the now right side up pyramid which fly into a nearby wall.

"That was better than I was expecting." He says to her, though she can tell he's laughing inwardly. He isn't even trying to hide it from her psychic senses, just from Scott. "I had to make sure you weren't cheating. Please maneuver the blocks up side down again and continue like you were before."

She's glad she lost the top few blocks in retrospect. If she had managed to flip all the blocks perfectly he would have inevitably asked her to do something much worse. As it stands, shifting the pyramid back one layer at a time proves easy, and finishing the original exercise, even losing some ground, isn't difficult at all. She almost loses it near the end, when a sudden lull in concentration do to the general tedium of the exercise causes it to wobble a little, but she gets her bearings and manages to finish the rest.

Scott doesn't laugh at her like he said he would, but he instead gives her a fist pump and resounding, "Yeah!" So she is okay with that.

Charles gives her a knowing smile, "So, what changed?"

"I stopped concentrating." Charles smile flattens, "Don't give me that look Prof. I just mean I stopped over thinking things and let my power work its magic."

Charles shakes his head, "Jean, the purpose of this exercise is to learn how to control your power. Letting it do the work is totally missing the point of it."

Jean rolls her eyes at him. "I was in control. I just stopped concentrating on every little block and let my passive awareness of them keep them afloat until I needed to move them."

Charles sighs, "And how will that help you maneuver many things at once? This isn't a stand alone exercise Jean. It's the first step in a series of exercises that are designed to teach you telekinetic multitasking."

Jean lets out a groan, "Can't you let me savor my victory just once? It's not my fault I found an alternate way to beat your test."

Charles shakes his head at her. He actually likes her headstrong nature, especially after her mental experience, but her intuitive understanding of her powers is becoming a major problem. She is quite powerful and skilled, but her control is still involuntary and rudimentary. Being able to write quickly and intuitively by hand won't help your handwriting be legible and precise. And that's what her powers must be: legible and precise, with little margin of error. She can't afford margin of error, not with the forces potentially at her disposal. But getting her to understand that is proving difficult, especially when he doesn't feel she's ready to even know about that aspect of her ability. Knowing her, she might try and tap into that power on her own, which would almost certainly have disastrous consequences.

Scott sighs as he approaches Jean, “He's always doing that to me to. I finally complete something, and I get a lecture about everything I did wrong.”

Jean laughs sardonically, “I'd love to rage at him right now! But I get where he's coming from.” Jean actually does remember the power. How could she not when it held her locked in her own unconscious for over a year? It's primal and terrifying and she has no intention of delving into it ever if she can avoid it.

Scott nods, entirely unaware of the two telepath's worries, “I know. He really wants what's best for us.”

The two of them continue to small talk about various things as they take the elevator to the house above where they find Ororo wearing a colorful dress with a tribal design. Scott whistles, “Wow. Looking good there Storm.” He says with a grin. He also notices she's been growing her hair out. It's not just longer, it's thicker too. Frankly, she looks beautiful.

Ororo smiles at them, “You two are in a good mood.” She turns to Jean, “Your training went well?”

Jean glowered again, “Yeah, until he got all on my case about concentratin' and stuff!”

Ororo let out a small laugh, “He can get a bit preachy when it comes to that.”

Jean turns to her and starts to vent, “I know right? Why can't I just enjoy my victory!”

Ororo nods, “Because it's not really a victory.” She says pointedly earning her a glare from Jean which she pointedly ignores. She then turns towards Scott, “So how are things for you at school? Looking forward to graduation?”

Scott sighs, “Yeah but.” He thinks about Paul. He's pretty glad to be getting out of Bayville High. While Jean's charisma had prevented his social life from going completely terribly, his falling out with Paul hadn't gone unnoticed and since then he'd tended to keep to himself. In fact, if it weren't for Jean, he'd have spent the last two years of his life training and studying and doing little else.

“He'll come around.” Ororo says in that assured knowing voice of hers.

Jean doesn't say anything. She knows what happened with Paul while the Professor and Logan were retrieving her, but he's actively kept his distance from them ever since and she's respected that, so she doesn't really know its significance. It's the one thing she never teases Scott about because she can tell it really hurt him. She's seen that same hurt in Paul's eyes the few times she's noticed him look their way. She'd love to help, but she doesn't want to intrude on their thoughts and can't think of anything she could possibly do to fix things, so she does what she always does in this situation, changes the subject. “I for one am glad to get out of that stuffy place.”

Scott's mood turns around in an instant, “That's because you had to do two years of summer school.” Scott has no qualms with teasing Jean about her time in the hospital, but that's a bit different. Jean loves being teased about things that bother her. It helps her keep things in perspective.

“Would you want to take two years of summer school while training with Logan?” She asks pointedly.

Scott sticks out his tongue at her, “I was training with Logan all the time you were in school and studying, so I have no sympathy!”

“Hah!” She says knowingly. He has a point, she had considered her schooling to be a welcome distraction to Logan's grueling training sessions. She then thinks for a moment, “Where is Logan anyway?”

Scott shrugs, “The professor said that he was scoping out a new recruit.”

Jean rolls her eyes, “Finally! I was beginning to think we were gonna be the only muties in this joint!”

Scott sighs, “That term sounds derogatory.”

Jean shrugs, “I'm thinking ahead.”

Scott raises an eyebrow at her, “Thinking ahead?”

Jean nods, “We're gonna be found out at some point. If mutant is gonna be the official term, mutie's a good bet for that thing assholes call us.” She grins, “I figure if I'm used to it, it won't bother me.”

Scott smiles a little sheepishly. She's such a strong person, so assured and intelligent without being snooty. “And what if they call us something else? Tanties or something?”

Jean scoffs, “Tanties? Really Scott? If they call us Tanties I'll be laughing my ass off at how fucking stupid they are!” She shakes her head, “Tanties! Ha!”

Ororo shakes her head at them, “You shouldn't joke about that. Words can be quite hurtful.”

Scott sighs, “Sorry...”

Jean doesn't budge, “Words aren't hurtful. People let themselves be hurt by words.”

Ororo meets her gaze evenly but Jean remains defiant, “Just be careful Jean. Not everyone is as strong as you are. You could end up hurting someone you care about without meaning to.”

That takes a bit of the steam out of Jean's sails, but she still looks determined, “I'll make sure all my friends are strong enough to not be hurt by mere words.” She says.

Despite her reticence, Ororo can't help but smile at that. She's sure they'll need that kind of gumption to get through what's in store for them. She decides to change the subject, “I got Chinese for dinner tonight. Real Chinese.”

Scott smiles and licks his lips. Jean scoffs, “But I like take out lo mein.”

Ororo sighs, “Indulge me.” She can tell Jean is just being contrary.

Scott laughs, “I for one am glad to get actual Chinese food for a change!”

Jean rolls her eyes, “Did you fly to China?” Ororo shakes her head with a laugh knowing exactly where Jean is going with this. “Then this isn't 'actual Chinese food.'” She quotes 'actual Chinese food' with her hands to make her point.

Scott is undeterred, “Then I'm glad to have gourmet American food that greatly resembles traditional food from China.” Jean's glare makes Scott grin in triumph as she clearly can't think of a good comeback for that.

Jean can't quite keep her enjoyment of dinner under her irritated facade, much to everyone's amusement. “This still would have been better with a plate of lo mein.” She insists, which causes Scott and Ororo to break out laughing while Charles merely raises an eyebrow with an amused smirk.

**The Next Morning**

Jean, Scott and Ororo are sitting around in the living room by the front entrance to the institute when an irate looking Logan walks into the room. “You got Chinese.” He says after taking a sniff.

“You're order is in the refrigerator.” Ororo says to him without looking.

Logan walks into the room holding a box of lo mein, causing Jean to scowl. No one notices though and Logan starts talking, “This new kid's trouble already. Not even legal yet and he's already the size of a barn and deep in illegal activities.”

That gets everyone's attention, “What do you mean?” Scott asks.

Logan sighs, “Name's Piotr Rasputin. He wouldn't talk to me, but I was able to dig up some dirt on him anyway. He's a member of the Russian underground. Kinda like the Mafia, but you know... Russian.” Jean rolls her eyes at that. “Didn't get much on him, except that he's sometimes steel,” that caught everyone's attention, “and he's got a job tomorrow evening at the pier in San Francisco.”

Charles wheels himself into the room, “So this is going to be an away mission.”

Logan grunts, “Not for me. I was tagged.”

Charles frowns, “That'll make this more difficult.”

Ororo nods, “I'll go get the jet ready.”

Scott and Jean look at each other before looking up at the adults, “We're coming right?” Scott asks.

“It could be helpful.” Ororo says, “Without Logan I'd be doing it alone.”

Charles nods, “I agree. Scott, Jean, or should I say, Cyclops and Marvel Girl. Consider this your first official X-mission.”

Jean stands up, her previous scowl replaced with glee. She grabs a thought full of noodles from Logan's box as she steps out of the room earning an irritated, “You owe me for that!” From him.

Jean laughs, “Call it payment for all the bruises you gave me.” Logan grunts in response, but she can tell it's his amused rather than irritated grunt.

Scott, on the other hand, is walking next to Ororo, “So what's the plan?” He asks.

Ororo shakes her head, “Unfortunately, we're going to have to play it by ear. We'll see what specifics Logan has before we leave, but we're probably only getting a small amount of information. I'm going to be counting on your level head Scott.” They take the elevator while Jean is messing with Logan. “Ideally we'll wait until after the exchange and then intercept Piotr. He'll be less likely to see us as a threat and more likely to listen. But we may have to step in and protect...” she pauses for a moment, “...or neutralize him.”

Scott's eyes widen, “Neutralize?”

Ororo nods, “Logan wasn't kidding. According to Cerebro, Piotr's power allows him to transform his body into an organic, steel like substance massively increasing his strength and durability.”

Scott shakes his head, “What does that have to do with us neutralizing him?”

Ororo looks Scott in the eyes, “It might be something we have to overcome; though we are quite powerful, so that isn't my first concern. What concerns me is that since he is that strong and is used to being able to fight his way out of things, he may choose to attack us rather than listen.” Ororo shakes her head, “Whatever happens, we can't let him continue what he's doing. A powerful mutant like him in organized crime could do massive damage, not just as a result of the crime itself, but also to mutant rights.”

Scott raised an eyebrow, “I thought no one knew about us?”

Ororo looks at him, “There will be a time when that is no longer the case. And consider this, what if the world finds out about mutants because of him or someone like him? A powerful mutant caught committing a crime? And possibly injuring or killing legitimate authorities in the process?”

Scott's eyes widen in surprise for a moment before he nods, “That would be terrible.”

“Yes, it would.” Ororo responds.

Scott returns to the task at hand, “You also said we might need to protect him?”

Ororo nods again, “If we know that he can transform into steel, then it's safe to assume that anyone dealing with him might also be aware of it, but if they aren't, he may not risk revealing himself unless he absolutely has to. If we can protect him, we might be able to keep his abilities a secret. Since we are in costume and not the first super powered people to exist, people are unlikely to assume there is a growing population of super powered individuals and rather that we're another rag tag group of Spider Man wannabes.”

“He also might be more willing to listen if we save him than if we just show up.” Scott adds.

“That is also a fair point.” Ororo turns into the conference room: a large room with a table with chairs in the middle and some smaller tables for refreshments along the walls. “But what all of this really means is that we can't go in with a concise plan. We might not want to have a plan at all in fact.”

This line of thought confuses Scott, “Why would we not want to plan what we can?”

Ororo looks at him, “Because we don't know all the variables. If we have a plan we might pay too close attention to it and miss something. Perhaps something crucial.” She sits down, “Never forget that over thinking things can be worse than not thinking about them at all. A plan with unknown holes can be more of a liability than it is useful.”

Scott sighs, “Then why plan at all? You always have unknowns.”

Ororo nods again, “You can't really plan for the unknown, but you can plan for the most likely scenario. In this case, not only do we know there are a large number of unknowns, one of the biggest unknowns is which scenario will occur.”

Scott raises an eyebrow, “I hadn't considered that as an unknown.”

Ororo nods, “I didn't think so. Consider it like flipping a coin. You can plan for either outcome, but can you plan for the coin flip itself?”

Scott raises an eyebrow, “I suppose not.”

Jean walks in, spins a chair around so she can lean forward onto its back and then slams herself down onto it. “What are we talking about?” She asks.

Ororo turns to her, “Our lack of a plan for this mission.”

Jean raises an eyebrow, “Our lack of a plan. That doesn't inspire confidence.”

Scott shakes his head, “We actually do have a plan.”

Jean turns to him, “Oh?” She raises an eyebrow in suspicion.

Scott nods, “Watch what happens and make it up as we go along.”

Jean smirks, “So my kinda plan!”

Ororo turns to Scott, “To finish my line of thought, the coin flip analogy was slightly flawed in that you would plan for two scenarios, but that only works to a point. Here, there are too many potential scenarios for planning for each one to be a valuable use of our time, let alone all the scenarios we haven't thought of.”

Jean smirks, “Huh, that's pretty genius.”

Charles wheels in afterward, “Indeed, it is. Logan gave me a disk with all the information he found, which is unfortunately very little.” He wheels up to the end of the table before pressing a button under it and a holographic layout of a pier appears there. “So let's start with what we do.”

“That's where the job is happening?” Scott asks.

Charles nods, “Yes. Since we don't know exactly where it's going down or the nature of the job, we'll have to keep tabs on the situation as it develops.” He presses a few more buttons and the image zooms out to show a good portion of the bay, “We'll fly the blackbird tonight while it's dark and park it underwater. Unfortunately, that means we'll be stuck on the jet for the day.” He looks at Jean pointedly as she's about to say something, “There is a way off the ship, but we're getting one shot at this and I don't want it to fail because someone lost track of time sightseeing. We'll hopefully have time for that after we're done.” He then grins, “I'll leave Jean in charge of procuring the food for tomorrow.”

Jean grins, “Lo mein everyone!” She says.

Scott shakes his head, “You have to get food for the entire day Jean.”

She grins at him, “I know.” She gives him a pointed look.

Ororo sighs, “Jean, it would be good to have a little variety.”

Jean laughs, “Of course we'll have variety! We'll have chicken, and vegetable, and beef, and shrimp, and.” Scott sighs again.

Ororo rolls her eyes, “At least I like lo mein.” She says.

Scott sighs to, “Yeah, I like it to.”

Charles laughs, “Don't forget the chopsticks!” He says to her. He then turns back to the hologram, “While I'll go over this in more detail tomorrow, I'd like to give you the general gist of the plan right now.” He points to a building, “Scott, since your visor doubles as vision enhancing goggles, you'll be our look out. I won't tell you not to use your powers, but...” He trails off.

“Only use them as a last resort.” Scott finishes Charles sentence, and he nods in response.

Charles then turns to Ororo, “Since it'll be daylight still when we get into position, you'll be here.” He points to a warehouse near the pier, “We may need you to clear up some fog in the area we're scoping out, but be discreet.”

He looks at Jean, “You'll be here in the alleyways scoping the area telepathically. You're our real eyes and ears Jean. If something comes up as a surprise, you'll be the one to notice it.”

“I'll be coordinating from the jet, keeping us connected through a telepathic link.” He turns to Ororo, “I'll be acting as a consultant, but you're in charge Storm.” He looks at Scott and then looks at Jean a bit more sternly. “You both follow her lead.”

Jean rolls her eyes at that, but responses evenly, “So I'm going to be trying to sense as much as possible around me?” She asks.

Charles nods at her, “We both know you can, and I'll be there to help you every step of the way.”

Jean nods, “Then I'm gonna go get a bunch of tubs of lo mein.”

Ororo shakes her head, “Please don't go to Panda Express.” She says.

Jean rolls her eyes, “As if I'd ever go there. I said I wanted Chinese food not indigestion!”

That earns a laugh and then everyone leaves the room to prepare for the evening.

**That Evening**

Logan grunts but accepts his house lo mein without any rebuttal. Scott stares as she hovers a huge pile of boxes, presumably full of lo mein into the elevator. “Is that all lo mein?” He asks.

She grins, “You have no idea how hard it was to carry all of this from the delivery truck to the front door.” She says in response.

Scott shakes his head as he turns into the kitchen. If he's going to have nothing but lo mein to eat tomorrow, he's definitely having something else now. Especially since they had better Chinese the night before. He finds Logan in the kitchen with three boxes of house lo mein for himself. “I blame you for this.” He says, though he seems more amused than irritated.

Scott decides he wants waffles, so he gets out some pancake mix and the waffle iron. “I take full responsibility.” He says. He should know better than to try and get the last laugh against Jean. It never ends well.

Ororo enters the Kitchen, “Do I smell waffles?” She asks.

Scott nods, “Yep. I wanted the furthest thing from Chinese food that we had that I could think of.”

Ororo grins at him, “Good thinking. Can you make some for me?” She asks.

“Already ahead of you.” He says. He gives Ororo and Logan plates of waffles.

“Breakfast for dinner I see.” Charles says as he enters the room.

Scott nods, “Farthest thing from Chinese I could find in the cupboard.” He says.

Charles nods. “Thank you.” He says as he accepts the waffles.

Jean comes in with a box of lo mein. “You all havin' waffles?” She asks.

Scott nods, “No thanks to you. We just had Chinese yesterday!”

Jean rolls her eyes, “No, we had Gourmet American that greatly resembles food from China.” She grins and eats a chopsticks full of lo mein. “This is American Chinese Food!”

Scott rolls his eyes at her, but hands her a plate full of waffles anyway, “Thank me later.”

Jean grins, then pours lo mein all over her waffles as she says, “Thank you!”

Scott cringes at that, “Really?”

Jean smirks, “Don't knock it till you've tried it.” She then cuts into the monstrosity in front of her and takes a giant bite of waffle, chicken and noodles. Scott sighs when she moans in enjoyment. He is actually tempted to try it now, except the whole point of the waffles was to avoid the lo mein.

After they finish eating, Logan goes to watch a baseball game while the others go get ready for the mission. An hour later, they are sitting in the blackbird as they fly over the countryside.

“You should get some sleep.” Charles says to them.

Scott raises an eyebrow, “The seats here don't look very comfortable.”

Charles nods, “There are bunk beds in the back.” He says with a knowing smile.

Jean raises an eyebrow at that, “Bunk beds?”

“The Blackbird is designed for missions. We considered that we might need to spend extended periods of time aboard when we built it.” Ororo says, then she stands up with a large yawn. “I'm going to take Charles' suggestion.” She then disappears into the back.

Scott looks at Charles, “What about me?”

Charles laughs, “Scott, we built this after we adopted you. You'll find your bed easily.”

Jean shakes her head, “So when do I get my own million dollar room?” She asks.

Charles laughs, “When not having one could cause you to blow up half the mansion in your sleep.”

Jean rolls her eyes, “I could blow up half the mansion in my sleep.” She says.

Scott is about to protest when Charles responds, “Yes, but a million dollar room won't make that any less true.” Jean laughs again before standing up and sauntering off towards the back room.

Scott gulps, “Is that true?”

Charles laughs, “Relax Scott. If she was going to do that, it would have happened ages ago.”

Scott sighs, “I'll get some rest.”

Charles nods, “Sleep well.”

Scott nods before heading to find his specialized bunk.

**The Next Evening**

<Cyclops in position.> Scott thinks through the telepathic link.

<Marv in position.> Jean thinks.

<Marv?> Scott thinks with a smirk.

<Marvel Girl is long. Speed communication is key. Right Cyke?> Jean thinks back.

<Storm in position. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, pay attention.> Ororo's voice sounds serious even telepathically.

Charles, on the other hand, sounds amused, <While Marv has a point, Storm is absolutely right, we have more important things to worry about than shorthands for our code names.>

Scott and Jean both snicker at that while Ororo rolls her eyes. Charles tone changes, <Now let's start the mission. Remember, whatever happens, secrecy is of utmost importance. Even if we have to give up the whole thing, we must avoid public scrutiny if at all possible.> The three of them nod.

It's about half an hour later, after the sun goes down, that something happens. Jean had been getting increasingly more antsy, then she psychically catches her target, <I think I've tagged him.> She passes the person she's seen to Charles psychically.

<According to Cerebro, he's the one.> Charles responds, and then he relays his position to the others.

<I see him.> The rather large, muscular man with light skin and dark hair intimidates Scott.

<I do to.> Ororo responds.

<Don't let it bother you Cyke. He may be tall and strong, but you could blast him out of the sky before he could blink at you.> Jean thinks.

Scott sighs. <I don't want to kill him.>

<Not the point. He's got nothing on you, let alone all of us.> Scott can hear Jean's seriousness in his head. It surprises him.

<She's right Cyclops. Winning a fight with him isn't going to be the challenge here. Getting him to listen to us is. He won't if we act intimidated.> Scott shakes his head. The anticipation is getting to him more than the man, he realizes that, but it's hard to differentiate the two.

The four of them quiet down as Jean and Charles try to listen in on the conversation as much as possible. <His thoughts are, fortunately, unprotected. His name is indeed Piotr Rasputin, but he goes by Checkov. He is here to pay off a group for some weapons they purchased. In theory, he's just the messenger and this'll be a less than ten minute affair.>

<In theory?> Scott, Jean and Ororo think at the same time, causing Charles to inwardly smile.

<Yes, in theory. He himself does not think it will go down that way. He hopes not to have to reveal himself, but he thinks he's going to be double crossed.> Charles thinks.

<So what? We go in? That seems rash.> Jean thinks surprising Scott.

<Yeah,> Scott thinks, <We jump in and we might end up fighting both of them.>

<Agreed. Unfortunately the plan remains as is. We'll just have to react to what happens. But be on your guard.> Charles thinks to them.

<A helicopter is landing on the pier.> Ororo notes with urgency.

<A helicopter?> Jean thinks, <That's a bit loud and obnoxious isn't it?>

<It's not discreet, that's for sure.> Scott pipes in as he zooms in on the people. <They're faces are covered. They're wearing completely black suits.>

<The pier is strangely absent this evening.> Ororo notes, <It's only eight, you'd think there would be someone around, at least security.>

<A payoff maybe?> Scott thinks.

<That's very possible.> Charles adds.

<Shh! I'm trying to listen to what they're saying.> Jean says.

<They are going over the terms of the agreement.> Charles adds.

<I was getting that!> Jean thinks irritatedly.

<They didn't turn off the helicopter.> Scott notes.

<They are criminals, they might want to make a quick escape.> Jean responds.

<But the helicopter is really noisy, and starting it up shouldn't take that long.> Scott continues, <Keeping it on seems odd to me.>

<Using a helicopter at all seems odd.> Ororo thinks, <Unless they are planning to double cross him and need a quick escape plan.>

Charles shakes his head, <Whoever they are, they are much more resilient to telepathy than Piotr. I am afraid to try and delve deeper lest they realize they are being read.>

The sound of gunfire breaks their mental conversation. Scott and Jean are momentarily stunned, but Ororo jumps into action.

Rather than the sound of ripping flesh, loud clinking sounds can be heard and when Scott looks at the pier again, there is a silver man with tattered clothing where Piotr was standing. Before they can do anything, he surprises them by running and jumping into the water, where rather than sinking as you'd expect of a steel statue of his size, he seems just as buoyant anyone else and he swims out to sea.

<What is he?> Scott thinks, flabbergasted.

<There's a ship out there. The helicopter's landing there.> Ororo thinks.

<Storm, Marv, go after him. He may need help.> Charles orders.

<What about me?> Scott thinks, feeling a little left out.

<You're to return to the blackbird.>

<I can fly him.> Jean thinks.

<Negative. You'll need all your concentration to protect yourself.>

<Copy that. Marvel Girl, come with me. Remember, you may have to protect yourself from oncoming fire. Try and keep your telekinesis low if you can. A purple glow is easy to spot.> Storm says.

<I got it! I can fly without glowing ya know! So I should be watching for bullets against you right?>

<Negative. A strong wind has a massive effect on a bullet's trajectory, and I don't want you to give away my position.> Jean nods. Ororo clearly knows what she's talking about.

<I'm on my way to home base.> Scott thinks as he climbs down the rope ladder he used to get up to the roof in the first place. <We should invest in something better than this rope ladder for those of us who can't fly.> He complains.

<Noted.> Charles thinks.

It turns out that the midnight blue uniform combined with the darkness of night allows Jean and Ororo to get to the ship without being detected. They are floating on either side of the deck waiting for Charles to find their target.

<I've located him, but he's on the move. He's on the ship already.>

<But there are still guards on the deck.> Jean thinks.

<How would he get from the sea to the deck?> Scott asks.

<The bigger question is how did he manage to get aboard before us without alerting the guards on the deck or causing the boat to sink.> Ororo notes.

<Conjecture isn't getting us anywhere. The boat's layout seems simple to me. If he's on board, he shouldn't be difficult to find.> Jean is clearly getting impatient.

<She's right X. If we're going to do this, the sooner we do, the better.> Ororo agrees.

<Proceed with utmost caution.> Charles says.

<Be careful of the guards.> Scott adds with trepidation.

<Easy.> Jean thinks as she peeks over the deck. She waits until a guard has just moved past and then flips over the deck. She flies up and under an overhang where she looks down at the guard. _Chuck’s right, their minds are locked tight._ She thinks, _But that’s easy to deal with._

As she surmised, the next guard’s attention is out at sea. She grins to herself, and strikes. First she uses her telekinesis to hold his mouth shut to muffle any scream and then she pinches his nose until he passes out. As soon as she senses his unconsciousness she lets him go. She doesn’t want to kill him after all.

She lifts the body up and holds it by her as she waits for the next guard in the rotation, which she repeats the same process on. After she has three guards she begins to strain, <All right, all right X!> She contacts Charles, <I get the point of the stupid pyramid now!>

That earns her a chuckle and a, <Do you need some help with the unconscious ones?>

Jean grins, <That would be rad.> And then she feels Charles’ power somehow bolstering her own. <You gotta teach me to do this empower someone else thing!>

Charles thoughts grow serious again, <We’ll talk about this later. For now, concentrate on the task at hand.>

<Roger.> Jean nods as she responds.

<Have you secured the deck?> Ororo asks after a few minutes.

<Just one more guard to go.> Jean incapacitates that guard before moving them all to a life boat.

<I know we needed to be stealthy, but that didn’t feel right. I basically choked those guards. It was way too easy.> Jean shook her head, <I’d much rather bash them around.>

<I’d much rather you bash them around too under normal circumstances.> Charles replies proudly. He’s glad Jean has misgivings about this. The pragmatic side of him realizes sometimes things like this are necessary, but that doesn’t make them not morally and ethically questionable.

<I think they’ll be fine.> Storm says after she checks their bodies, <Their breathing and heart rates are stable at least.>

Charles nods, <I believe their minds will be fine as well. Good job Marv. Your fine control over your power has gotten quite good.> Jean grins in response.

<Let’s get back on track.> Scott interrupts, <Before a new shift of guards comes, or someone decides to look up.>

<Right. Marvel Girl, lets go inside. It’ll be easier for us to remain quiet if we remain airborne.> Ororo says.

<Roger.> Jean responds.

The two of them enter the ship and find that, aside of a few guards which they easily disable, the ship seems nearly deserted. <I think most of the ship’s crew is trying to handle Piotr. There is a large group of people in a large room on the bottom of the ship. Possibly a cargo hold or submersible launch bay.> Jean shakes her head, <There’s so much going on down there that its hard to get a clear picture using just my telekinesis.>

<I concur.> Charles adds, <There is likely a fire fight going on. Please hurry, but proceed with utmost caution.>

When the two of them reach room in question, which turns out to be a cargo hold, they find utter chaos. There are probably thirty or forty people with assault rifles trained on Piotr, but from what they can tell the only reason he hasn’t taken them all out is because he’s protecting his eyes. There are a number of bodies on the floor of the room around him. <They aren’t dead, are they> Ororo asks alarmed.

<They aren’t, some of them are injured pretty severely it looks like.> Jean shakes her head, <But Storm, I can’t blame him for hurting them. They are trying to kill him.>

Ororo sighs, <You’re right. This does post a problem though. How do we get him out? There are too many of them to use our earlier method.>

<We’ll have to take a more direct approach. Drop in on them and fight our way out.> Jean says.

<That won’t be easy. You’ll have to keep yourself protected from a lot of gunfire. It’ll be hard to fight them and protect yourselves at the same time.> Charles says.

<Hard, but not impossible.> Jean thinks.

<I agree, we don’t have a lot of options here.> Ororo nods.

<Please be careful.> They can tell Scott’s nervous. They both know it’s more because he isn’t there than because he’s worried about them.

Jean surrounds herself in a field of telekinetic energy and then drops from the ceiling into the middle of the room. As she lowers herself, she lets loose a wave of telekinetic power which knocks a group of the gunners to the ground. Ororo stays where she is above the room but creates a funnel of wind which pushes them aside. “There’s your opening! Get out of here!” Jean says to Piotr.

“Bol'she urody. Strelyat' ikh!” One of the standing men says, and Jean and Ororo find themselves under gunfire.

Much to Jean’s chagrin, Piotr reacts to this not by running through the hole, but by charging a group of the gunners who had started firing on Jean and Ororo. “No! Guy! We gotta get out of here!” She tries to yell, but between the gunfire and the chaos she isn’t even sure he hears her.

And then more gunners show up on balconies and it’s all she can do to keep herself from getting shot. Ororo has also taken a defensive posture and even Piotr is covering his eyes again while even more gunners enter the room.

Things look grim for the three of them when a red beam cuts straight through the ceiling of the room, cutting a hole in it and breaching the bottom of the ship. There isn’t much time to think about that though, as Scott drops down through the gash he just cut on their Rope ladder, which had been twisted so that he’d spin on the way down allowing him to strafe the gunman as he fell. “What happened!” He asks as he barely manages to keep hold of the ladder do to dizziness.

“Cyclops, there’s not enough time to...” Ororo’s words were cut off by the crack in the floor exploding into a geyser of sea water. The gunners that are still conscious scream things in Russian before running out of the room, as the boat quickly begins to tilt downwards.

Jean turns to Piotr, “No time to explain! Were here for you. You can stay on the sinking ship or get outta here with us, but you gotta choose now!”

Piotr takes one look at the geyser, and makes his decision. He jumps onto the ladder. <Go go go!> Scott screams mentally as he and Piotr are lifted up through the deck and into the sky. Jean and Ororo fly themselves up as Scott helps pull Piotr into their helicopter.

The four of them look down at the quickly sinking ship as they fly away towards the city, the crew jumping into life boats in an attempt to flee. A group of them take off on their helicopter, but don’t give the mutants a second thought as they fly away towards the opposite horizon.

After the ship has disappeared into the distance they close the hatch. Piotr looks at them, neither making an offensive move nor taking down his metallic form. “Don’t worry. We have no intention of harming you. We just want to talk.” Ororo says.

Piotr looks at them, and seems to make a decision, “What am I to do now?” He asks in a heavy Russian accent.

Charles voice comes from the cockpit, “That is entirely up to you. Scott, could you take the controls again so I can speak with Piotr?”

Scott nods, “Back to the black bird right?” Charles nods.

Piotr looks a little spooked at this, “How is it you know my name?”

Charles nods, “Like my student said, we came here for you.”

Piotr gives Charles a wary look, then looks around at the others before speaking, “Why you come for me?”

Charles smiles at him, “Because, like you, we are special.” He then motions towards Jean. “Marvel Girl, if you will?” He then pulls a small pen out of a compartment in his char. Jean grins and holds out her hand and levitates the pen, this time putting far more energy into it than necessary so that it glows a vibrant purple. All Piotr can do is stare.

“We are looking for people like us, especially young people. Professor Xavier is creating an institute for mutants, people who were born special, like you.” Ororo says.

Piotr looks down, “What about my family? How will I take care of them?”

Charles looks at him, “We can provide for them if that is what you need.”

Piotr stares at him, “You would do that for me?”

Charles nods, “Piotr, what did you think of your former life?”

Piotr sighs, “I was bad. But it was all I could do for my family.”

Charles smiles at him, “What if I told you you could do good in the world and provide for your family at the same time? That I would gladly help them even if you decided not to join us?”

Piotr stares at him, “You would do that for me?”

Charles nods, “All I ask is that you come with us. Listen to what we have to say, and if after that you choose your own path? I will still help you with your family however I can.”

Piotr looks at him oddly, “I suppose I can listen. I have nowhere else to go.”

Jean grins at him, “Believe me!” She then flips the pen around in the air. “It’s a blast!”


End file.
